


How to Save a Life (Soudam)

by ySoda (yrxole)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Character Death, Dangan Ronpa 2 - Freeform, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Fluff and Angst, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), M/M, Neo World Program (Dangan Ronpa), One-Sided Sonia Nevermind/Soda Kazuichi, Post-Super Dangan Ronpa 2, Soda Kazuichi-Centric, Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Spoilers, gundham tanaka - Freeform, kazuichi soda - Freeform, soudam - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yrxole/pseuds/ySoda
Summary: Kazuichi was pretty sure this wasn’t what was supposed to happen when he woke up.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Soda Kazuichi, Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham
Comments: 29
Kudos: 250
Collections: Purrsonal Picks





	How to Save a Life (Soudam)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:  
> I have pretty recently finished the anime, and now I've decided to share my new pain with you by forcing my favourite character in a killing game like the future arc. Have fun reading!
> 
> warning:   
> swearing, although that's kind of obvious. 
> 
> -I still spell Soda without the 'u' because I'm going for the game version, sorry.   
> -I have a lot of respect for people that actually know how to do Gundham's speech, 'cause man that's hard (English isn't my first language either, so writing his dialogue is definitely a challenge)  
> -You decide if the nagito and hajime is komahina or not, I actually didn't think about it before I decided to post this
> 
> anyway, have fun reading. I am okay with constructive critisism as I want to better my writing, but please don't be too harsh on me.

Kazuichi was pretty sure this wasn’t what was supposed to happen when he woke up.    
  
The Future Foundation members, or at least the programmed ones that had managed to enter their Neo World Program (processing that he’d been in what was apparently a computer program generated world was still strange to him) had spoken of the circumstances they would be in once they’d wake up from the experience. Even with the pressure that had been on them once an AI of the former ultimate despair decided to mess with their minds, giving them hope to save their friends in order to create despair instead of the factual filled words of the Foundation members, Soda had been able to take in what was being expected of them and what they, in return, could expect themselves. It was a whole mess of a story to suddenly fall on them, the possibility that even though the place was a program their friends would most likely be beyond saving, and the fact that what they’d gone through on the fake island was their own doing. It didn’t take that long for the group of survivors to make the right choice, stop Junko once and hopefully for all since the woman luckily didn’t seem to have many other plans to take over the world even after death left.    
  
When the world turned dark, no,  _ everything _ turned dark, Kazuichi knew what to expect. They would wake up in some high-tech looking room, inside certain designed cabins that their unconscious body had been resting in. Except, that’s not what happened. 

As Soda opened his eyes, his eyes had to adjust to the dull lighting in the room. He felt the presence of the others, his classmates. Once he got used to the darkness around them, he could make out that indeed, they all were there. But they weren’t in the sci-fi room with hyper technology and the helping hand of Makoto Naegi, as he expected. The room looked like some sort of conference room, a round table taking up the space in the center and a big screen covering the wall across from him. Almost mockingly the vein in his right arm whined for attention, not just whined, his wrist hurt in a nagging fashion. Bringing his arm up to his face, Kazuichi noticed a metal looking bracelet that he didn’t recognize. Was this part of the Future Foundation’s plan with them? 

Apparently he wasn’t the only one with worries, as he slowly heard the other students starting to speak up. ‘Hey, what the fuck’s going on?’, a voice to his right called out, most likely being Fuyuhiko. ‘Where are we? Why is it so dark in here?’, a shrill voice that belonged to Hiyoko (he could recognize that one out of thousands with the amount of comments she usually shot his way) added after that. Had he not known the girl, he would’ve probably felt sympathy for her. But they were soon enough all in the state of panic the other two had shared. It didn’t take much, really. It only took the big screen he’d noticed earlier on the wall turning on, and a laugh every single one of the students had hoped never to hear again to sound like an echo through the cramped space. 

‘Puhuhuhu… That must be quite the surprise, hm?’. 

The black-and-white themed bear had popped up onto the screen, triggering most of the kids to either jump up in defense or stay still in a shocked state. Kazuichi was one of the Ultimates to be frozen in place. ‘So, how was the killing school trip? Quite the experience, wouldn't ya say?’, the stuffed animal mocked them safely from behind the big screen. The sound of protest from his classmates didn’t even get through to Soda, all that was on his mind being  _ no _ and the stupid murderous bear in front of them. 

‘Well, brace yourselves kiddos!’, Monokuma continued with no sign of stopping any time soon. Now that he thought about it, the bear was supposed to be defeated by now. Unless the Future Foundation was known for their horrible traumatic pranks, Kazuichi was sure they were in a lot of trouble. ‘The trip was only a warming up! Simply a test, you see. I, as headmaster, found you kids needed a bit of practice before getting ready for the real deal!’. ‘Warming up…you can’t be serious’, Mahiru complained from across the room. The glow from the screen lit the room slightly, and now Kazuichi was able to make out the people around him. ‘Now this… this is gonna be your real challenge’, Monokuma continued his speech. 

A red glow emitted from Kazuichi’s bracelet, and as he looked around him, also from the others’.  _ 02:59:59 _ it read, however, counting down as he looked. ‘What’s this supposed to mean?!’, he shrieked out, imagining a scenario where in the three hours that were giving him, he was going to die. ‘What is this about?’, Peko spoke up, confirming what Soda already thought; they all had the same problem. 

‘Now what fun is a game with no rules?’, Monokuma grinned, or at least it looked like he did, and there was no doubt in his mind the bastard behind this was enjoying the either internal or external freak out everyone in the room was having. ‘Another killing game’, Hajime muttered, closest to Kazuichi’s left. ‘Right on the money!’, the bear chirped. 

‘However, this game is somewhat different than on the island, so listen well, will you want to remember these rules. You see, there is going to be no boring class trials to sit through like a bunch of respectable little high schoolers. I’m gonna be honest with you; I had not anticipated this ending either, but, puhuhu... nothing I can’t work with!’, he spewed his nonsense, giving the others a hard time listening to it. ‘There is a despair killer amongst you. Someone that is still attached to Junko Enoshima. A murderer. An attacker. A traitor, if you will’, Monokuma grinned again, his dull little eyes showing exactly what everyone was feeling. Nanami’s head lowered as she heard the term  _ traitor.  _ It could not bring many good memories, he supposed. ‘Once the timer on your bangles is up, a sleeping poison will be injected right into you. You’ll fall into a deep, nice slumber, unable to do anything about it yada yada’. It was the somewhat childlike yet terribly twisted way of talking and thinking that made Monokuma so despicable, although that came along with the fact that he had a habit of forcing kids into killing each other. ‘This is when the Attacker will wake up. They will be given time to kill exactly one person’, Ibuki looked like she was going to throw up soon, ‘before everyone else wakes up. If no one dies during this time, the game will be over. Simple as that!’. 

But of course it couldn’t be as simple as that, when was something ever as simple as that with Monokuma. The bracelet, or  _ bangle _ as the bear had called it, lit up with a small red glowing light once more. Kazuichi forced himself to examine it. The digital writing on there had him frown in confusion.  _ ‘Witnessing a Murder’ _ , his bracelet said in red letters. ‘Oh, I almost forgot!’, Monokuma chimed in in time with the others’ confusion. ‘The forbidden actions! There aren’t many rules in this game, you know. If you want to kill, you do you, I’m not stopping you! Weapons are for everyone’s reach, I don’t discriminate’, he waved them off, as if that was even a question to begin with. ‘Kill to your heart’s content! And all the other things I should probably be telling you but I won’t bother; just assume that whatever you’re gonna feel like doing will be Monokuma approved’. At least that was a relief; they wouldn’t have to feel the constant pressure of the robotic animal being displeased with them and deciding to kill them all. However, this also resulted in more fear; there was no limit of two people for anyone to kill, and there would be no class trial. Basically this could be seen as a kill or be killed situation,  _ survival of the fittest _ . Unless they managed to find the killer and stop them. 

‘Where was I? Right, the forbidden actions’, Monokuma cleared his throat. ‘It’s not that hard to get, really, but for the less gifted children in our presence, I will explain anyway. Every one of you has a unique action that once you perform it, results into death. For example, were my bangle to say ‘ _ laughing out loud’ _ , and I would: puhuhuhu!’. Some sort of short explaining video played with a monokuma on screen that also had a bangle around its paw. After laughing, the bear exploded. A shocked gasp came from one of the Ultimates, but Kazuichi couldn’t tell which. Monokuma reappeared. ‘Well, you won’t explode, but y’know… a poison will again enter your body, this time a deathly one. I thought that would make this more interesting! So… let the games begin!’. Without a warning, the screen turned dark again. 

A shiver ran down Kazuichi’s spine. He was going to spend the last couple of hours of his life distrusting and being suspicious of his classmates. Again. He somewhat expected Nagito to speak up and spew out something about hope and despair being a stepladder for his hopegasms and how they should totally start to kill each other and make it a beautiful day or something like that, however, Fuyuhiko spoke up before anyone else. ‘I think we can make this easy. I’m ninety nine percent sure Mikan is the traitor’, he spoke harshly as ever, his arms folding to proof his point. All the focus was on the ultimate nurse now, who gasped as big tears out of panic already started making their way down her cheeks. ‘Wh-what?!’. ‘You’ve seen it yourself, she was all whorish over that despair freak during her class trial’, Kuzuryuu added, gaining agreement from some of his classmates. Hiyoko went even a step further. ‘Everyone that killed a classmate is suspicious’, she said, ‘but that cheap pig is definitely the killer’. ‘I-I-I’m not! I p-promise, I’m so s-sorry!’, Mikan cried and apologized for unknown reasons, and in no time everything was a mess again. 

‘Everyone could be the killer’, Nekomaru reasoned. ‘There is no need to single anyone out with no proof!’. The man spoke as passionately and loud as always, and Kazuichi found it hard to believe that he as well must have felt some panic in the moment. Being exposed to a killing game once wasn’t great for them, but now they were going to have to do it all over again. ‘So what, you want to wait and see who gets murdered first?’, Fuyuhiko spat back, his eyes determined. ‘I’m telling you bastards it’s Mikan, so it’s fucking Mikan’. ‘And you’re just gonna kill her with no reason to?’, Nekomaru defended the nurse who cowered away in fear and apologies. ‘Guys, please-’, Akane tried, using her brain for once instead of joining in to defend her best friend, but her voice was left unheard by the two. ‘None of that  _ no reason  _ bullshit, she  _ is _ the traitor!’, Fuyuhiko snapped, his face red from anger. Kazuichi knew the guy long enough now to realise that wasn’t a great sign. ‘Kuzuryuu, calm down’, Kazuichi tried to help his classmate come to his senses and took a hesitant step forward into his direction, however, this had not been one of his brightest ideas, for in no time there was a fist aligned with his face and a yell of ‘no one tells me what to do, I’m the ultimate yakuza god-fucking-damnit!’.  _ Fuyuhiko must’ve been one hell to deal with during his puberty  _ Kazuichi faintly thought as he grabbed onto his nose, praying to whoever was out there that he didn’t break anything yet. 

That he was now focussed on his pain didn’t mean he couldn’t hear the somewhat strangling noises behind him. He turned not out of curiosity but out of fear, only to be met with a sight he wouldn’t ever hope to see. 

Akane was grabbing at her throat as if she was trying to breathe, but to no avail. Her skin seemed paler than usual. The redness in her eyes was unmistakable, and so was the pang of guilt and terror once she dropped to her knees, to never get up again. Nekomaru yelled out, to no one’s surprise. He rushed to her side, checking her breathing. Nothing. ‘She’s…’, the Ultimate didn’t finish his sentence, he didn’t have to. Kazuichi felt his throat drying up. Definitely, he was definitely terrified. Chiaki sat on her knees next to the now dead Ultimate Gymnast, and pressed the bangle on the girl’s arm. ‘Witnessing Violence by Participants’, the girl read out. 

Fuyuhiko was dead silent. So was Kazuichi. It was however proof that Monokuma wasn’t lying when he spoke about these forbidden actions. Mikan cleared her throat quietly and spoke up, or at least tried to speak. ‘I-I think maybe w-we should tell each other our f-forbidden actions so we can-’, but in no time was she interrupted. ‘No. That would give the killer an advantage’, Peko shut her up quickly and shortly. No one really dared to question that logic at this point. Definitely when Hajime added a ‘and for all we know someone’s forbidden action could be knowing about getting to know someone else’s’. For their own sake and for the others, they shouldn’t be giving out this information to everyone. 

Kazuichi however, didn’t feel any better cause of this knowledge. A panic started to re-rise in him: he could accidentally kill someone. He could accidentally be the cause for someone here to die, and there was nothing he could do to prevent this. It happened with Akane, and it could happen with anyone else. His eyes travelled back to his own bracelet.  _ Witnessing a murder _ . Apparently being someone poisoned by Monokuma didn’t count as witnessing a murder. But what did? Did he have a chance of witnessing his classmates lash out to each other in such extreme lengths? It couldn’t be, right?

A new light entered the room when Nagito Komaeda opened the door of the conference room to the hall. And no word said, he simply… left. This caught the attention of Teruteru, who also shot up. ‘Hey, he can’t just leave!’. As fast as the little legs could take him, the usually perverted chef followed after the cloud-haired boy, starting a chain reaction of other students leaving, definitely when Mikan did. A rush of people pushing past Kazuichi while Chiaki called out to them in the soft voice she had that there wasn’t even proof any one of them actually was a killer, he stood and took it in. They had to go through this again. They really did. 

Kazuichi wasn’t aware that apart from him one other person (besides Akane of course, she wasn’t really able to go anywhere) stayed behind until this person made themselves known with their deep voice, startling the mechanic. ‘Perhaps we should not dwell on the illusion of salvation in the realm that temporarily still holds the soul of the Gymnast, although there is no need for the frantic antics our classmates seem to prefer to pull, I say we shall take part in the fate that lies beyond, the realm that lies beyond this opening. You are free to accompany me, if you wish to. However, perhaps it is not salvation you seek but enveloping in the realm of darkness with the eyes of the Spirit casted upon you for the time being. If that is the case, do not fret, I will continue walking my path to fate with my presence alone’. Gundham. Of course it was Gundham. Of course it had to be him. Kazuichi calmed down ever so slightly, and gave him a look that hopefully expressed the  _ go fuck yourself with your vocabulary _ he was feeling at the moment, as he responded with a confused ‘yeah, right, whatever man’. Gundham didn’t seem to be phased, as he took an almost elegant turn to the door before strutting out in the way only that dude could pull off. Silence. 

His face reappeared in the door opening. ‘Mortal, are you not following?’. Oh, so that was what he’d agreed to not knowing what in the world the other had been talking about. Kazuichi thought for a bit, since it would probably not be a great idea to be out there alone, but at the same time… ‘how can I know you’re not the killer?’. Tanaka huffed calmly, rolling his eyes sharply as if the answer was obvious. ‘Do you not think I, the Great Gundham Tanaka, have more concerning and significant issues or misfortunes to deal with than to organize some petty murderous festivities? Now is not the time to project your distrust onto ones that can easily be counted out of your conspiracy using simple logic’. And Kazuichi, after taking a moment to decipher that, guessed he had a point. ‘You’re right’, Soda said, straightening his back as if to get himself ready to leave. Gundham gave him a look, one that said  _ duh, of course I’m right _ , before once again turning away from the door and giving Kazuichi the time he needed to exit the room. It almost felt like that made this more real, like he had to step back into the game where he’d be throwing away his life. Taking a deep breath, Kazuichi exited the conference room, stepping into the hall where Tanaka waited for him. 

The halls looked like they came straight out of some cheesy high school horror movie. The wall seemed old, the doorframes seemed old, everything seemed old and abandoned. It seemed like it had been used for many, many years, as there was a musty smell to the halls, but for some reason Soda knew this wasn’t the case. The lights in the hall weren’t very prominent either, but they were enough for them to be able to see where they could and couldn’t go. Very out of place were the screens that basically littered the walls; they seemed to possess a far further technology than should have been possible in an old building like this one. Not a single one without the logo of Monokuma taunting them on it. The sight alone made Kazuichi shiver again, and he quickened his pace of walking to keep up with the Ultimate Breeder who had continued his journey as well. 

On multiple occasions as they are walking they find weapons just laying around, waiting to be taken by anyone, but neither Gundham nor Kazuichi felt like taking them with. 

Gundham made a point to skim across all the rooms and drag Kazuichi along with him, in one way or another avoiding their other classmates where they could as well. That wasn’t too hard; they were mostly caught up in their own thing. They could make out several groups had already formed; one of Peko and Fuyuhiko who had rushed past them shortly after they’d left the hall that was connected to the conference room this mess started in. Fuyuhiko already seemed to be wounded but in no way seemed it very severe, so Kazuichi chose not to worry about it too much. Peko could handle the yakuza, he knew she could. Even if she had a weird way about it, with all the  _ young master _ stuff and whatnot. They also spotted Ibuki, Sonia and Mahiru together, which was somewhat reassuring to Soda; at least Sonia would be safer with friends by her side than she would being alone. He himself started to somewhat regret agreeing to join Gundham, as the student just kept on walking, while Kazuichi’s legs were already complaining to him that he really should’ve done more during PE in his younger years. 

It was safe to say this place was a complete maze. Whoever had designed it, had definitely not thought of how easy it was to get lost here; every time they took a turn into another hall or entered another room Kazuichi felt like he was getting more and more lost. ‘Tanaka, dude, where are we even trying to go?’, he finally complained once he once again followed him into a room, only to have the breeder stay there for less than a second before turning back to the hall. Gundham finally seemed to realise he wasn’t doing this on his own and needed to pay attention to those around him, as he stopped in his tracks and turned towards Soda. ‘For if the chaos and mayhem commences, I will have achieved a reliable image of our surroundings. So, technically, we have no destination for the time being, while every destination is also ours’. Soda guessed that was actually not that bad of an idea; if the killing were to start, and everything would result into chaos, it would come in handy if they knew where to go and where they were. Tanaka may have been a total nutcase, he was pretty smart. Kazuichi decided to quit complaining as much and follow his lead for now. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to distract himself by thinking about Sonia’s safety the whole way, though. Whatever, if it really went down, he could just follow Gundham like he’d been doing the whole time anyway. 

‘Hey Tanaka, time’s running out, just thought ya should know’, Kazuichi noted after his bangle (that he in his mind started calling his Monobracelet) reminded him that they had a time limit to work with, and now had less than an hour left before they’d basically be poisoned to sleep. The thought alone made Kazuichi shiver again, and he quickened his pace to stay closer to the other student. ‘Right’, Gundham mumbled, seemingly to himself as he thought for a bit. Kazuichi saw his hamsters hiding away in the scarf the other was never seen without, and he briefly wondered what would happen to them when they fell to their forced sleep in less than an hour. ‘Perhaps we should alter our mindset and now search a suitable enclosable realm for when the darkness consumes us. That way we would be less probable to fall victim to the schemes of Monokuma’s devilish partisan’. Even if in the back of his mind Kazuichi heard himself think  _ I’m pretty sure whoever is working with Monokuma will find a way to enter any closed room anyway _ the thought of being in a room instead of out in the open when he was defenseless in his sleep was comforting. It didn’t take them long to decide on the room that was closest to them, and they opened the door. 

However, both Kazuichi and Gundham lingered in the door opening. Three pairs of eyes, all with different expressions, were now set on the pair. In the room were Nagito, Hajime and Chiaki. An odd group to see, if he included Nagito, but true nonetheless. Chiaki seemed sleepy as always, Hajime looked surprised or maybe even a little startled, and Komaeda didn’t wait for more than a second to continue what he was doing; they had been busy blocking one door of the room already. It was by luck that Gundham and Kazuichi were on the side that wasn’t blocked yet, and Kazuichi was pretty sure that luck couldn’t belong to him but had to belong to the Ultimate Lucky Student himself, and that was somewhat a reassuring thought. 

‘Are you guys gonna come in?’, Chiaki asked, her soft voice hardly audible with whatever ruckus was going on in their close proximity. Both boys were a little reluctant, and it must have been obvious they were, as Chiaki continued her speech. ‘Oh come on, do you really think the killer is among us?’. Kazuichi’s eyes roamed over the people in the room. Hajime Hinata, the boy he had before erroneously distrusted, and he would still love to call his soul friend since he was the only one back on the island that made an effort to become his friend (besides Teruteru but Kazuichi would rather not think of his… odd ways of trying to befriend others). He couldn’t see the guy killing anyone, not after he managed to basically save them all with his speeches. Chiaki Nanami was a sweetheart, even if she was supposed to be the  _ traitor _ in the Neo World Program; the term traitor had been misleading. And Nagito Komaeda… well, he would definitely be able to kill someone. But this place was just a mess of despair, and Soda knew that with his twisted way of thinking the luckster would only kill in the name of hope, so that was pretty safe as well. Kazuichi eyed Gundham to see if he came to the same conclusion as himself. Tanaka had already entered the room fully, probably having figured out earlier what Soda had concluded; they were probably saver in this group than somewhere else. 

They used whatever they could find to place in front of the doors. The place was strangely decorated, as in furniture with no real purpose. Seeing what was in front of the almost fully sealed off door on the other side of the room, Kazuichi guessed this must have been some sort of living room or something like that, but that wouldn’t make any sense; some other rooms they’d walked into had looked like classrooms, and others were just a mess of furniture that didn’t seem to try and look like anything. Now that he thought about it, the whole building didn’t make sense. Some of the halls they’d walked through almost gave him hospital vibes, reminding him of the hospital in the Neo World Program and how they’d found Fuyuhiko there. The others reminded him of the school he went to before he went to Hope’s Peak. And structurally everything was even worse. If Gundham could really still recall where to go if they ever got out of this room, Kazuichi would be surprised. 

Carrying some box that was much heavier than it looked in his arms, the mechanic made his way to Hajime. The guy was looking at their work, possibly to determine if it would be enough. Both entrances were  _ sealed _ so to say, and it gave a sense of security. ‘Hey, Hajime?’, Kazuichi made his presence known as he placed down the box. It landed on the floor with a thud that made him happy his feet weren’t under there. ‘Yeah, what’s up?’, the ordinary looking male responded somewhat absentmindedly. That was not a problem whatsoever, since Kazuichi was sure that what he was going to ask would at least raise his interest. 

‘Well, first of all, I never said sorry for… you know… not trusting you before’, the pink haired male said a little awkwardly. Soda had never been very good at genuine and though through apologies; usually if he apologized it was in a quick, quite possibly threatened way. He was pretty sure Hinata wasn’t bothered to much by this knowledge, as the reserve course student flashed him a small smile that told him to go on. ‘Anyway. I mean, I want to trust you, and I want to show you I do, you know?’, Kazuichi continued, shifting his weight. It would have been much of a relief if Hajime would just respond and take away some of his nerves, but he didn’t. Knowing himself and how he would most likely alter whatever he had in mind of asking before if Hajime were to say something, at the same time he was grateful for Hinata to be just listening as well. ‘So, if you are okay with that, maybe we could tell each other our forbidden actions’. 

Kazuichi had thought about it for a while when he was helping the others carry the stuff to the doors. If someone knew about his forbidden action, someone who he one hundred percent could trust, they could kind of pay attention to him in a way. Hajime was really the first one for him to come to mind; he wouldn’t mind having to pay some attention to his friend either. And he thought that maybe it would be a weight off his shoulders to have said it to someone. Kazuichi had never been that good at keeping secrets. 

‘I- well, if you’re sure’, Hinata answered finally, momentarily messing with the bangle on his arm. He looked over his shoulder, to see their friends were engaged in their own conversation while continuing to barricade the other door. Hinata wouldn’t mind for someone to know, but even if he did trust everyone in the room, he still didn’t feel like he should tell  _ everyone  _ just yet. Kazuichi stretched out his arm for Hajime to take, so he could read it himself. Hajime should’ve been capable of that after all, even if he was a reserve course. 

‘Witnessing a Murder’, Hinata read, followed by a short silence. It probably just dawned on him, like how it did on Kazuichi before; it was apparently very likely they would be eye in eye with a murderer soon, maybe even see a murder, and now there was no class trial or secrecy to protect them. And if it is a forbidden action, witnessing a murder was going to be likely to happen. In return, Hajime also presented his own wrist to the mechanic, who pressed the bangle that for now showed the fifteen minutes they had left before the first time limit would be reached, before changing into what was Hajime’s forbidden action. Kazuichi red the red dully glowing letters, a frown swiftly forming on his face. ‘Sitting down’. Hinata couldn’t sit down. He would be poisoned if he even tried. Now that Kazuichi thought about it, before when he saw Chiaki was sitting, the other had been leaning against the wall which must not have been very comfortable seeing what state that wall was in. ‘This is insane, man’, Soda shook his head in disbelief, letting go of the arm that Hajime gladly put back to his side. It really was insane. 

As a group, they decided to sit down (except for Hajime of course) in the last five minutes they had left to be awake, since neither of them really felt for falling down after being poisoned and getting some head injury. Being drugged to sleep was a strange experience, a forced sleep taking over their bodies. The last thing Kazuichi saw before passing out was Gundham securing the Dark Devas in his scarf, which was kind of sweet to see. 

Kazuichi was in a dreamless state of sleep. All he could comprehend was the dark and dull state of being out of it. That was partly why when he woke back up, he couldn’t exactly tell whether he’d just really slept or just had closed his eyes for a moment. However, he was soon to find out as a strange sticky feeling by his right hand alarmed him to open his eyes. 

A crimson red liquid covered a part of his hand that had been carelessly placed next to his body when he was asleep. The smell in the room was strong, almost unbearably so. Mildly in panic Kazuichi lifted his hand and inspected it, but there seemed to be no injury on himself. That is when he noticed that the thick liquid didn’t stop on just his hand. Reluctantly, his eyes followed the trail. And involuntarily he let out a scream as his eyes caught what was the first victim of the game. 

Chiaki was the one not to wake up. It wasn’t long until the others noticed the body in the room either, and soon they were all in the same state of distress Kazuichi was in. A pool of blood surrounded the girl, most of it not even dry, and it made Soda gag a little; he never was one to be able to handle anything gory well. The girl’s light coloured and usually soft looking hair was now a mess as the body liquid made it stick to her face like it possibly would have on a very hot day, and her clothes were soaked as well. The killer clearly made it a point to really,  _ really  _ kill her: there were a lot of wounds visible. They didn’t do much to hide the weapon either. A happily red colored knife was taunting them from across the room, probably carelessly thrown there by the attacker after their job was done. It felt more like a big  _ fuck you _ than anything; a  _ there’s no class trial anyway, so go fuck yourself _ . Nanami’s eyes were closed, and it both relieved and terrified Soda to know that at least she died in her sleep, for the fact that she wasn’t aware it was happening but that also made it unfair. She had no defense, neither during the act or after the act. They would possibly never find out whoever did this, her killer could go free and they wouldn’t know. And it would happen again, because there was no class trial to stop the killer. It was almost free game for them. 

The screen in the room that once supported Monokuma’s logo now made a strange sound, before what was being displayed changed into text. Getting closer to it and in that way further away from Chiaki, Kazuichi was able to read what it said. In big, artsy letters it read ‘ _ First Victim! _ ’. Kazuichi didn’t have to guess whether Monokuma was happy or not; the bear was probably having the time of his life right now. The screen changed to show Chiaki, and he briefly wondered if her lifeless body was being shown on every other screen in the building as well right now, but soon there was no doubt in his mind it was. Why else would it be on the screen in their room while the body was found there? So apparently the work of the killer was going to be broadcasted through the building for everyone to see. 

Kazuichi tried to calm himself down a bit as he looked around the room and saw the others were shocked as well. Shocked was a small word, maybe. He wasn’t the only one that was shaken up a bit, and he knew from experience that dealing with the moments after finding the dead body of one of your friends wasn’t a fun time. 

To his surprise, Hajime was the first to actually speak up. For someone that just lost their best friend (or at least Kazuichi figured she was his best friend, since everyone was good friends with Chiaki but Hinata just seemed to get along with her so naturally) he was being pretty tough. Perhaps it was just because of seeing his friends react to this in a strong way, since Hajime did feel the need to help them out. With a determined look on his face, he grabbed onto some off the furniture the time before their forced sleep they’d placed in front of the door as a barricade. ‘We need to move to another place’, Hajime stated, almost dropping to his knees when a box seemed to be heavier than it had looked but managing to keep his balance. Tanaka, who usually seemed very on his own, maybe even a little selfish, got up immediately to help Hinata to the other’s surprise as well. He helped Hajime carry the things to the side. 

Kazuichi started on the other side of the room, his back facing the crime scene. He had to close his eyes for a bit and get himself to breathe evenly again, trying to calm down. He barely noticed the Ultimate Lucky Student getting up, and instead of getting away from the body like the other students had done, actually approaching it. Nagito kneeled next to Chiaki, like Chiaki had done before next to Akane back in the conference room after she’d gotten poisoned by being forced to her forbidden action. His hand gripped Nanami’s pale wrist, and this caught Hajime’s attention. ‘What are you doing?’, He asked, and it almost looked like he felt a certain panic by seeing Nagito touch the girl’s dead body. Kazuichi could understand it in a way; if it ever came to it he wouldn’t want Komaeda to touch his own dead body either. ‘I’m trying to look if I can find any clues’, Nagito responded simply, luckily for the others not in his hope praising mode yet. Maybe he really did change after the Neo World Program experience, but Kazuichi doubted it. Some things could change, sure, but that would be hard to get out of his system. 

‘There’s no point, what do we do with whatever information we get on the killer? There’s no class trial. Chiaki died, and there’s nothing we can do to avenge her’, Hinata snapped, and Komaeda briefly looked up at the other, before continuing his search. ‘No, there is no point when you’re thinking like that, Hajime’, he replied, matter of factly. He pressed the bracelet on Chiaki’s arm; apparently it was still on and working. ‘ _ Someone revealing your forbidden action to you _ ’ it read. Soda thought back to when Mikan had said something like them all revealing their actions to each other, and it hurt him to think that Chiaki must have known at the moment how much danger she was in. Nagito examined the stab wounds as well, and at some point Kazuichi could swear from where he was carrying away the barricade, he could see the luckster touch and look at her blood. Creep. But at least he got things done. 

‘Found anything?’, Hajime asked after a little while, dropping a chair he was holding and obviously trying to stay composed. Staying in this room wasn’t doing him any good. Gundham cussed at him in what seemed like Latin for almost dropping the chair onto one of his hamsters that had escaped his body to roam around the room itself. 

Nagito shook his head, getting up and dusting off his pants at the knees. ‘No, I’m sad to see trash like me can’t be of much help at the moment…’, he trailed off, and Kazuichi huffed. ‘Whatever man, if you’re gonna pity yourself do it in your own time’. ‘However’, Nagito continued once he had patiently waited for Kazuichi to be done speaking because he probably thought the other  _ with  _ an actual ultimate talent had more right to be speaking, ‘it may be good for us to realize that the killer most likely is able to move around the building freely. There is no need to exclude the students that weren’t in this room as possible suspects, and no need to single us out as suspects either’. Kazuichi hummed quietly to himself, moving the last piece of furniture (what even was a night stand doing here) away from the door. ‘If someone really is working with Monokuma, I’m sure they know how to move around freely’, he agreed with the Ultimate Lucky student. It seemed to please the other. 

‘Silence!’, Gundham suddenly exclaimed, his hand stiff against his lips. In almost a shocked way the others shut up, listening to whatever Gundham had picked up on. The sound of people running and yelling outside of the room was clear, and they could only imagine what chaos was going on now that they knew for sure there indeed was a killer. The excuse of the murderer just being Monokuma was getting old after all. They’d already gone through a killing game where their classmates murdered their friends before after all. ‘The madness has already begun’, Hajime noted as well, speaking what the others were thinking. The noise was slowly fading away a little, but Kazuichi still wasn’t completely convinced, and he scratched his arm awkwardly. ‘Can’t we just stay in here?’, he muttered, but his eyes quickly again found the crime scene. ‘... Nevermind’. 

He jumped up startled as there was a sort of  _ ‘pling’ _ sound that seemed to come from the screen in the room, but it still only showed Monokuma’s logo taunting them. ‘What was that?’, Kazuichi shrieked softly, ignoring how Tanaka didn’t even try to hide an amused smirk at his reaction. Asshole. He looked at Nagito for an answer. 

‘I think I heard that as well behind all the yelling when Akane died. Perhaps it is the sound to indicate someone died by another cause than the killer themselves, or just when someone dies while everyone else is still awake’, Komaeda came with the answer, and since Kazuichi wasn’t smart enough to come up with a theory himself anyway, he just agreed to think about it like that until proven otherwise. The group that now only consisted of Gundham, Kazuichi, Nagito and Hajime since they lost Chiaki decided to try and stick together at least to hopefully higher their chances at survival during the day. 

With a caution that was very logical in their situation, the group exited the room and found themselves in one of the halls of the building again. Hajime and Nagito were clearly taking the lead, for some reason able to know where they wanted or needed to go, as Gundham and Kazuichi followed them carefully. They passed another room, where they found the source of the sound from before: Teruteru’s body lay limp on the hall floor, draped against the wall close to the opening of a door. The opening was to a room that looked like another classroom; the interior design of this building never failed to confuse Kazuichi. To his surprise, he found himself a little shocked by seeing the body, a bit sad as well. Nagito was obviously not sharing the same emotions, but luckily he decided not to say whatever he was thinking, because Soda was sure he wouldn’t be able to take it knowing that he was probably right. ‘However low of a creature that mortal may have been, no soul deserves such a conclusion’, Kazuichi heard the somewhat softer than usual voice of Gundham next to him. He faced the male, and he was looking straight at Soda. ‘You’re right’, he agreed quietly, grateful. He had every right to be sad, even if none of the others liked Teruteru. It was sad to see someone they’d known for a while die. He averted his gaze from the tiny chef that had just looked pale like Akane died, which pointed to the conclusion that he died because of his forbidden action. Komaeda checked his bangle swiftly and noted it down in what looked like a phone, but probably couldn’t have been since Kazuichi didn’t find his own phone on himself and it would be pretty strange for Monokuma to allow them a device that could call out for help. 

Voices, yelling, screaming and just a lot of other loud fuss was hearable from down the hall where the boys had come from, and it neared them. Kazuichi wasn’t able to make out what was being said, and quite frankly, he didn’t want to know either. He had seen enough death for today, so following the noise would only heighten his chances of becoming a victim himself. The others in his friend group however, didn’t seem to have the same thought progress as he had; they were curious to know what was going on, and were soon approaching the noise. Since Kazuichi also didn’t really want to continue on his own and risk being ganged up on (his mind was running wild with distrust now) he just followed the others, hoping they would soon change their minds and just get out of there. 

‘P-please stay b-back...’, Kazuichi could now hear the voices more clear, and this squeaky one definitely belonged to the Ultimate Nurse, Mikan. It wasn’t aimed at the group of boys; they weren’t even in the line of vision yet after all, so there must have been a threat to the girl around. Soda caught sight of the group once they turned left in one of the hall that was strangely aligned to the wider one they’d just found themselves in, this whole place was really a maze. 

‘Mahiru, get that bitch! She killed Chiaki!’, the high pitched and annoying tone that belonged to Hiyoko Saionji basically sang, which was nothing new. She was known for the endless pestering of her classmate Mikan, and occasionally also Soda which is why he didn’t really enjoy her presence in the group of students, but usually Mahiru wasn’t really one to comply to the bullying of the smaller girl. Quite the contrary; Mahiru usually managed to get Hiyoko to come to her senses when she was going too far. Yeah, she may have been a bit weird towards guys sometimes, but she had her heart at the right place. So it was weird to see her holding a weapon instead of her camera, even if it were to be out of self defence. The way Hiyoko was cheering her on to, in her words,  _ ‘slaughter that pig’ _ proved otherwise: Tsumiki was the one that was protecting herself. And she hadn’t been doing a great job at it. Her body was usually covered in bandages anyway, which Kazuichi always supposed was for the aesthetic since the girl was the ultimate nurse after all. But seeing some wounds inflicted on the poor girl already, they would probably come in handy soon.    
  
Yeah, Kazuichi could safely say he hated Hiyoko, but he wouldn’t see her as the type to actually cause a murder. However, he never thought so of his other classmates either, yet in the programmed world they’d lived in for a while that had quickly been proven otherwise. Acting out of despair still came a little too natural to them. Nothing that couldn’t be helped, though. 

The group of girls had not noticed the guys yet, as they were in their own world of conflict at the moment. This would have been the perfect moment for them to turn around and pretend like they didn’t see anything, but with Hajime on their side things couldn’t be that simple; he of course felt the need to try and stop this from happening, because he was for some reason sure he could still save everyone like a good protagonist would. But things escalated from the girls yelling at each other to them having a go at each other way too quickly for comprehension, and they found themselves in sudden dangerous territory. Definitely for Kazuichi, who was painfully aware of the bracelet on his own arm that could inject poison in him for this any moment now. Egged on by Hiyoko’s cries, Mahiru charged at Mikan. The wounds on the girl made sense now. This pair was probably not the first to blame the nurse and attack her in return. 

‘Wait, stop this!’, Hinata called out, speeding towards them, but it was to no avail. The desperation and fear in Hiyoko’s eyes weren’t something Kazuichi thought he could easily forget after this. They were acting out of fear. He somehow understood, as well. They needed someone to blame, something to hope, and that was Mikan right now, how sad that may have been for the poor girl. Hinata tried to grab Mahiru’s arm to stop her from wounding the nurse more, but in that way the sharp object she had been holding sliced through his skin, and he let out a cry himself. Kazuichi only now noticed the photographer was crying herself, and he almost felt a familiar sense of despair wash over him. 

It happened really quickly, and none of them could have foreseen the action. Tsumiki used the fact that Hinata did still hold onto Mahiru’s arm and the girl herself was looking back at the reserve course student in what was probably a state of shock and guilt, to lunge forward to her. She had tried to defend herself to her best abilities before, and now was her moment to end this when the other girl was in an almost defenseless state. 

Kazuichi could only faintly hear screams, as in a flash he was pushed into someone and his vision basically went black. Hands were pressed tightly over his ears, and for a moment he felt himself panic as his hands grabbed onto the arms of his sudden attacker, but as soon as he realised that this wasn’t an act of someone that was out to kill him, he managed to relax ever so slightly. The hands and the arms were shielding him from what was happening, and with the limited amount of knowledge he had, Kazuichi could guess this was neither Nagito nor Hajime. The soft recognizable scent of his clothes kind of gave it away before, though. ‘...Tanaka?’, Kazuichi muttered into what he supposed was his chest, as he was still held tightly in the protective embrace. 

As a response the pink haired male was shoved away in a quick manner, before indeed Gundham grabbed onto his arm and pulled the other with to wherever they were heading. Kazuichi was confused since he hadn’t fully comprehended what was going on around him. A quick look over his shoulder said enough; they were leaving a dead Mahiru, bleeding Mikan and who knows what was going on with Hiyoko behind. Nagito and Hajime were leading the way just like before, but they seemed a lot less confident than they had before. It took Kazuichi a while to understand that Hiyoko was actually following them, but when he did, he finally realised he needed to run as well, and now without Tanaka’s help he managed to follow the others. Kazuichi had never been that good at sports, but running was something he could manage quite well; he got to refine the practice over the years of being easily scared. 

A certain dread felt the boy as he knew that now, he was going not just to distrust his classmates, but he was going to fear them as well. Hiyoko had definitely lost it after seeing the murder up close, otherwise she wouldn’t have been following the students that had nothing to do with this whole mess at the first place. Mahiru was dead, after being killed by the girl she almost murdered herself. Mikan was definitely in big trouble, judging by the amount of blood Kazuichi had seen on her the moment he’d looked over his shoulder to understand what was happening. And God knows what the other students were going through at the moment; the only reason Soda could be sure no one else was dying was because he didn’t hear any noise that would indicate someone was dead. But Akane, Chiaki, Teruteru and now Mahiru were already gone, in less than five hours. Everything was Monokuma’s fault. Soda didn’t have much time to feel sorry for himself, as he tried to keep up with his group. He was glad he at least had them to follow, for if he were left on his own, he wasn’t sure what he would be able to do. 

Gundham took a turn to the left into a room and so did Kazuichi, noticing they at some point had shaken the messed up girl off as she wasn’t following them anymore. In there, they were reunited with Nagito and Hajime, who looked just as worn out as Soda was feeling. The mechanic closed the door behind him and leaned against it, panting softly. He’d had enough running for today, but he was pretty sure he still had a lot more of it to do if things would go on like this. ‘Hajime, you okay?’, he asked as he remembered that Hinata had been harmed in the process of trying and failing to stop the girls. 

Hinata gave a nod, but Nagito didn’t appear to be satisfied with that short of an answer, as he took a hold of Hajime’s arm, probably to inspect the wound. ‘What are you doing- it’s fine-’, the student protested, but Komaeda didn’t back off that easily. It was almost sweet to watch, really, even if Kazuichi did know how strange the other could be. He did seem to care about his friends, although more often than not, he showed his affection in a very… particular way. 

As Kazuichi was watching the two students interact, Gundham appeared in his line of vision, blocking the view. A look of guilt was written on his face, and Kazuichi strangely enough found himself curious to know what that was about. ‘Sup?’, he said somewhat coolly, surprising himself that he didn’t sound that terrified when what had just went down was something worth being shaken up about. Perhaps he was getting used to his friends dying, but if that were so, he wasn’t sure if he was glad about that progression. ‘I must give you my apologies, for I had recklessly acted out of turn in regard to your comfort out of apprehension for the potential doom I have accidentally gained knowledge of when you and the Ordinary One were conversing regarding your forbidden activity’, Tanaka spoke with his usual deep voice, still sounding apologetic however. For some reason, Kazuichi kind of got the gist of what the other was trying to say; he was apologizing for hugging Kazuichi, and explaining he only did so because he knew about his forbidden action. Kazuichi supposed that there had to come a day where he’d eventually start to understand what Tanaka was saying. Even in the situation they were in, Kazuichi could give the other a toothy grin, which maybe caught him off guard a little. ‘Dude, I don’t care. You saved my life, dumbass, you don’t gotta apologize’. Gundham had protected him from having to witness a murder to the best of his abilities after all, and even if Kazuichi could be a selfish bastard sometimes, he was really grateful to him at the moment. He’d never thought he’d ever think that about Tanaka of all people, but apparently wonders did happen sometimes. The breeder returned his grin with a more careful smile, but it was definitely there, and that was enough. 

They had only a little of time left before the next limit would be reached, and Nagito insisted on using that to return to the body to see what Mahiru’s forbidden action was. Hajime agreed to going with him, but Kazuichi had seen his fair share of bodies for the time period and decided to stay back with the Ultimate Breeder that wasn’t really feeling like running around and trying to avoid their other classmates either. Kazuichi wasn’t sure how long it took them, and at some point was even scared that Nagito and Hinata hadn’t survived their trip (he was complaining Gundham’s head off, who every time answered more shortly that they’d be back). The last ten minutes they finally came back, showing up with Hajime complaining to Nagito and the dude seeming almost happy about it; Hajime was bandaged up. And boy was he also complaining towards Komaeda that it was his worrying that almost had them run out of time before being able to return, to which Nagito simply answered ‘I might be absolutely useless for anything else, I do have my ultimate luck, so that would not have happened’. Soda supposed there were more boring people to be stuck with than these three. Together, the group were again forced to a sleep. 

The next victim was a hard pill for Soda to swallow. As they’d woken up, the screen read ‘ _ Second Victim!’  _ in the way it had before when Chiaki was killed, but this time they had no idea who it was since the victim wasn’t in their room. But when the image of a strangled to death Sonia Nevermind showed up on screen, Kazuichi could almost feel his heart stop beating. Needless to say, he wasn’t of much help this time period. He agreed to accompany the others when they were going to inspect Sonia’s crime scene and body nevertheless. 

Not just seeing the image like a fake movie scene on a screen but witnessing Sonia’s dead body in real life only made it harder, and the reality finally started to sink in, even if in the back of his head he knew this would probably happen. He had always said Miss Sonia wasn’t strong enough to take care of herself, even though he knew otherwise and she constantly proved herself and everyone else otherwise, but now she had to have died in the most cruel and defenseless way possible, it was hard for Kazuichi to grasp. His skin was itching, hurting, as he watched the death, but he couldn’t look away either. And most of all, he felt bad. Deep inside the boy had always known he hadn’t ever made an effort to actually get to know the  _ real _ Sonia Nevermind, but he was just very comforted by the pretty princess version he refused to look past, and now he would never get to know her in the way he wanted to. Well, many could argue that he’d seemed to want a lot more than just to know Sonia, and he guessed they were right, although they were talking about the  _ fake image _ Sonia he’d made up in that case. Heck, he had been aware of Nevermind’s interest in the occult and in serial killers, things that completely terrified Kazuichi, but he’d stuffed that knowledge away to comfort himself with the thought of a perfect girl. It had been unfair to Sonia, he was painfully aware of that, but he wasn’t sure how else to cope with the shit going on around him. Yeah, sure, at first he wasn’t even aware that his obsession with Sonia wasn’t really healthy or okay for that matter. But he did know after a while, and deliberately decided not to do anything about it, and that stung now. 

He felt Hajime place his hand onto his shoulder, and looked over to his friend, that gave him a comforting look in return. He knew Soda wasn’t really okay; how would he be, after this? But he asked anyway, probably just because that’s what friends are supposed to do. 

His moment of self-pity and their overall moment of mostly silently inspecting the crime was disturbed by a groan that came from Nekomaru outside. He had spotted the students inside the room that seemed like a kitchen, although when the boys had tried it, nothing seemed to work in the room so it sure wasn’t functioning like one. Kazuichi could only imagine what the other had gone through judging his own beat up state, sensing definite bruises and battle wounds. It seemed Hiyoko wasn’t the only one that started to treat this game like a survival of the fittest. 

The large guy sped up towards them, and there was no doubt in Soda’s mind he would have been killed if it weren’t for Nagito doing what he did: he simply got up, and closed the door on Nekomaru. The guy came to a halt in front of the door. Everyone in the room (except for the dead girl which is kind of obvious) looked at Nagito with definite questions, such as  _ what?  _ and  _ how? _ . ‘I suppose the Lucky One has found the mortal weakness that debilites even creatures such as Nidai’, Gundham had pretty soon found the explanation, and they rolled with that. ‘So,  _ did _ you figure out forbidden actions?’, Hajime asked Komaeda. The dude had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since the start of this new killing game. ‘I figured some of them’, the luckster responded, pressing Sonia’s bangle to check on hers as well. ‘I know yours and I know Kazuichi’s. I also know Nekomaru can’t open doors, although at first that was only a theory, but this has definitely proved it. I’m positive Mikan cannot use her abilities as a nurse, since she would’ve tended to her wounds if she could by now, and I also think Peko and Fuyuhiko have something related to each other, but of that I’m not yet certain’. That was a lot of information to suddenly take in. 

‘And you didn’t tell us this sooner because?’, Kazuichi asked somewhat bitterly, realising Nagito must have been walking around with this knowledge for quite a while now, and who knows what he had known beforehand about the other students that were already dead. ‘Because my forbidden action is speaking out of turn’, Nagito simply replied with no hesitation in his voice, even if this was his forbidden action they were talking about. Of course he had no problem sharing something with the others that could very possibly become his death. But this knowledge did explain a lot of his behavior; what exactly  _ speaking out of turn  _ meant, Kazuichi wasn’t sure, but he supposed Komaeda didn’t want to take his chances just like that. Although, it was Nagito they were talking about. He could take any chance he wanted and it would turn out exactly the way he wanted it to, that lucky bastard. ‘Oh’, Kazuichi mumbled, ignoring Nagito’s smile that was fairly inappropriate for the moment. At least Nagito wouldn’t be able to speak unless spoken to, that meant a lot less talk about the importance of hope. 

It didn’t take long for their third time period to run out. They had about fifty minutes left as they were roaming the halls and searching for a different place to stay at, swiftly hiding in the hall as Ibuki rushed past with the Impostor by her side, although they didn’t seem much of a threat the guys didn’t want to take any chances. The pair entered the room that the group of students had just passed, and Nagito bit his lip as they almost immediately heard a sound coming from one of the screens again. Hinata told him to speak, so he did. ‘That was Ibuki. I already thought her forbidden action is to enter a room that holds over two people, and I’m pretty sure the room they just entered held Fuyuhiko and Peko already’. It was very, very unfair. Kazuichi didn’t even feel the despair he’d felt before at a death, no; he felt mad. He was mad. She didn’t deserve this, none of them had deserved any of this, so why was it happening? 

Hajime and Nagito lead the way into a mostly empty room, and Kazuichi supposed he was glad it was, since he wasn’t sure how many more  _ surprises _ he could take. Not really putting an effort into barricading the door since it had proven to be to no avail before as the killer can probably just enter whatever room they feel like entering, the students sat themselves down on the floor as Hajime lay down since he didn’t want to trigger his own bracelet to poison himself. Kazuichi didn’t know how that dude could last without being able to sit. In no time were Nagito and Hajime engaged in a conversation; he guessed it was only natural as a friendship did come kind of naturally to the two, as was proven back in the Neo World Program before Komaeda had shown the twisted part of his personality. 

A bit awkwardly, since it was still new to him that he didn’t feel like ripping Gundham’s head off (that may have been over exaggerated, but there had definitely been moments the thought had crossed his mind), Kazuichi turned to the breeder to make conversation as well; he didn’t really feel a lot for spending the last forty minutes they had before the next limit would be reached in complete silence. ‘So… how are you holding up?’. 

Soda kind of asked it to be polite, really. He knew Gundham and Sonia had been close, both as classmates and again on the island inside the program. He had hated that closeness. He had envied that closeness. He had  _ wanted _ that closeness. But now wasn’t exactly the appropriate moment to feel jealousy, and even if bringing up the death of Miss Sonia may not have been that great of an idea on Kazuichi’s part, he also felt himself being strangely interested in the answer. Maybe even more so when Tanaka expressed genuine surprise at the question for just a moment, before composing himself. ‘Oh, well’, the guy started, carefully selecting his words. ‘The turn of events is rather unfortunate. However, I will not dwell on the unblest occurrence, for a realm as cruel as this earth does not deserve an angel as wonderful as Lady Sonia in any case’. He was picking on a thread on his scarf in what looked like a nervous fashion, but it still made Kazuichi think. ‘That’s a way to think about it’, the mechanic hummed as a response, ‘I guess you’re right’. 

Tanaka wasn’t looking at him, and a silence followed their short chat. Something was bothering the other, it was obvious even for someone like Kazuichi. And for some reason, Soda kind of had an idea what that something might have been. With the same carefulness to his choice of words as the breeder had before, Kazuichi sighed softly. ‘Y’know that you can be sad, right?’. Gundham’s eyes were only slightly wider than usual by the sudden initiative of Kazuichi. The questioning look never left his face however, and it powered the other student to continue. ‘It’s just- sometimes it’s nice to be able to be sad about something. Let’s be honest, there’s a big chance one of us isn’t gonna survive tomorrow; at least in your last moments be honest to yourself’. Of course Hajime Hinata decided to ruin their moment by chiming in a ‘stop projecting your depression onto Tanaka, Kaz’. For some reason, maybe that was something he needed to hear to get out of this sudden downwards spiral, and the sentence made him chuckle a soft ‘fuck you’, to his friend. Gundham however wasn’t distracted by the sudden disruption from the reserve course student. ‘I suppose you as well make a fair point’, he spoke up to Kazuichi’s surprise, even if he seemed somewhat reluctant to share like this. ‘However, I do not wish to open my already cursed form to the despair that path would take’. 

‘Who says sadness is the same as despair?’, Kazuichi huffed in a slight annoyance. He had spent the whole experience in the Neo World Program proving this statement otherwise, after all. ‘I’m pretty sure at least Komaeda’s with me when I say sadness can lead to hope. It’s acceptance of losing someone or something you love, it’s acceptance of caring about something’, the mechanic continued, ignoring the very pleased look Nagito was giving him. ‘I think acceptance is a very hopeful thing’. ‘It’s deep thoughts hours with Soda’, Hajime joked as he lay back, grinning towards the male that rolled his eyes. Of course if he said something smart this would happen. ‘Yeah, we get you’re funny, stop memeing me Hinata’. 

Gundham was quiet for a moment, thinking about what Kazuichi had just said. He chuckled darkly to himself, something about how the Dark Overlord of Ice like himself hadn’t thought of that yet, but Kazuichi wasn’t exactly paying attention to the exact words. He was more flattered by the knowledge of what he just said was maybe considered a bit smart, and by someone like Tanaka of all people, the dude that basically was a walking dictionary. Yeah, he may seem totally bonkers, but Kazuichi had experienced the pair of brains the guy had; weren’t it for Nagito, they probably would’ve never understood how Gundham had managed to do what he did in the funhouse. ‘Although’, Tanaka added to his speech that Kazuichi hadn’t really listened to, ‘I do feel curious to hear how a mortal like you came to that conclusion’. Deciding to ignore the  _ a mortal like you  _ that definitely should have been offensive in a way, Kazuichi felt his skin turn a little redder from embarrassment. ‘Actually, it’s thanks to Sonia I realised that, I… I don’t think you’d care to hear the story’. ‘Fool’, Gundham rolled his eyes, ‘if I, as you put it, were not to ‘ _ care to hear the story _ ’, do you not suppose I would have not demonstrated what you humans call curiosity?’. And yeah, Kazuichi supposed he was right. 

‘Oh, well. After you died in the computer world, you know’, Kazuichi started, scratching his neck awkwardly, ‘Miss Sonia kept bringing the things you said at last up, and I sorta, uhm…’. He was aware of the dark but patient eyes of Gundham that were on him, but he decided to keep on talking anyway. ‘Well, I’m not entirely sure what exactly happened, but I kind of upset her? Not purposely!’, he quickly added, even though he was pretty sure that if Tanaka knew him even a little bit he’d know Soda would never purposely upset Sonia Nevermind. ‘But well, I said something like it was just you or something I don’t fully remember’, he trailed off, clearing his throat. ‘She was really upset and she left, so I followed after her to apologize’. Kazuichi was aware that not only Tanaka was listening, but he guessed that he didn’t mind the others knowing either. ‘I guess I just… I had been jealous of you guys, which was obvious’, the mechanic chuckled awkwardly, but Gundham only nodded for him to go on. ‘I.. well.. I told her I just didn’t want her to feel the despair of losing someone dear to her, you, and dwelling on it. But Miss Sonia explained that after losing you, she felt only hopeful knowing she was following and taking your last words to heart; she wasn’t dwelling on it, she was accepting it. I… I guess I already knew, though’. It was weird to think about, but the only ‘ _ normal _ ’ conversation he’d ever had with Sonia was that moment when they had a short chat about the death of Tanaka of all people. Well, that depended on what you call normal, of course. 

The Ultimate Breeder was dead silent for a bit, and Kazuichi felt his heart beating a bit faster. He was scared, there was no way to hide that truth from himself. ‘Tsk’, the guy finally spoke with his usual low voice, ‘of course  _ you  _ would mock the Great Gundham Tanaka after my mortal form leaving this cursed realm’. ‘N-No, I wasn’t- I didn’t-’ Kazuichi panicked, but something about the mischievous glint in Hajime’s eyes he could immediately sense made him stop and take a moment to actually study Gundham… that was when he noticed the boy hiding a smirk behind his scarf. ‘Ah, you asshole! Ya tricked me into feeling guilty!’, Kazuichi whined in a way only he could, shoving the boy softly but in a friendly way, and the chuckle that left the other’s lips was definitely worth it. 

The third time limit was over before they realised it had, and they again were forced to a quick sleep. The next period of time of course brought a lot of death as well; Peko Pekoyama had been murdered by the traitor in the night, and for that reason also Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu passed away, which the group quickly came to know was because his forbidden action was Peko dying. On their way to the crime scene (Nagito still insisted for them to investigate even if it was practically pointless) they also passed Mikan’s body. She most likely died from blood loss, as Komaeda confirmed her forbidden action was indeed to use her talent. The Ultimate Nurse had been unable to tend to her wounds. 

That’s how the group found themselves in another classroom-looking space, with Nagito inspecting the third victim. It felt strange to think this was only the third victim, as more than half of the students had already passed away, but it was true; only three of those nine deaths were caused directly by the killer. The chances that the killer was amongst their group of friends grew bigger and bigger each passing death, but for some reason Kazuichi didn’t find himself even thinking about that in a logical way, which was very out of character for him to anyone that would know him well; he was usually quick to stop trusting something or someone. 

Komaeda seemed troubled as he inspected the corpse. ‘What’s wrong?’, Hinata finally asked, definitely to relief of the luckster that had been holding back what he wanted to say for a while now. ‘It can’t be just one killer’. 

‘What?!’, Kazuichi shrieked, and he wasn’t the only one that was surprised, or should I say mildly distressed by this revelation; the other two reacted in about the same way. Nagito explained himself. ‘I thought so by the last murder already, but I couldn’t be sure. Of course I needed to be sure before I could tell you guys, otherwise you would’ve believed trash like me for no reason-’. ‘Yeah, just go on’, Kazuichi interrupted his moment of self-loathing. The luckster continued. ‘The first murder seemed very inexperienced. The second one seemed well thought out and was definitely done by a professional. This one is about the same as the second one, but a couple of resistance mistakes were made’, Komaeda said, pointing towards the bruises on Peko’s skin. ‘Something tells me the killer may have even accidentally managed to wake her up. So I don’t think it was one killer’. ‘Wow. That was really helpful, Nagito’, Hajime said calmly, which shut the lucky student up immediately. Perhaps that was part of the reason that Hajime complimented him, but that Kazuichi would never know. 

‘Wait’, Hajime suddenly spoke up, raising the interest from the others. ‘The others don’t know this information. We should get them to know and to understand the situation’. Nagito and Gundham seemed on board with this idea, but Kazuichi had his doubts. ‘To raise suspicion?’, he asked, confused to why he was the only one that saw the flaw in this plan, ‘they’re only gonna kill each other off faster, dude!’. The students weren’t convinced, and for a moment Soda questioned where their brains suddenly went. ‘I can’t be the only one who is doubting this logic. Komaeda, you say something’. But of course the Ultimate Lucky Student wasn’t going to speak in his benefit, no sir. ‘I think it is a good idea, actually. Because, there is a big chance that the killers aren’t all students from our class, or none of them are. Normally I’d take Monokuma’s word for it of course, but these murders vary a lot and don’t really fit any of our talents either. And aside from the forbidden actions, Monokuma never really made any rules, so there’s no way to tell if he is playing by the book himself’. 

‘I thought you didn’t care about murder’, Kazuichi huffed, grumpy now that no one decided to side with him and seeing how passionate Nagito was in his tiny speech just then. ‘No no, I do not mind death itself. However, as long as the despair can be a stepping stone for hope to shine through, and this place is solemnly filled with despair’, Nagito explained himself with a smile, showing off his true nature once again. For once, Soda was glad when Hajime decided to interrupt the luckster, even if what he said didn’t make sense: ‘the intercom!’. 

Or well, it somewhat made sense. They’d passed a room that looked like a control room earlier, although they never actually went to inspect it, since they had seeing the crime scene on their minds. But Gundham assured he would know how to lead them there, since he actually did pay attention to his surroundings. Or basically, that was what Kazuichi made up from his speech about practicing his instincts with Demons in Hell and whatever. Ultimate Breeder, more like ultimate edgelord. Whatever. The intercom would indeed be the safest way to tell the others about their findings, if they didn’t want to face them directly knowing that they could definitely lash out (like they’d seen before). 

The sound that left one of the screens in the room indicated that yet another student had fallen, only deepening Kazuichi’s frown. This seemed to fuel Hajime with more determination, whatsoever. ‘Now or never, we’re safer in a group. Let’s go’. 

On their trip, this time being led by Gundham’s directions although he still insisted on letting Komaeda and Hinata take lead like they so fluently had before, they came to know who had triggered the sound to play: they found Impostor. And by the looks of it, his forbidden action was the thing that killed him. Kazuichi felt a certain calmth with that knowledge; at least he wasn’t slaughtered in a cruel way by their classmates, but he was poisoned. After all, after finding out that Impostor wasn’t actually Ryota Mitarai and then again having to find out he wasn’t actually Byakuya Togami, the guy still had an awfully great personality and reasoning for someone that they were supposed not to trust after stealing identities. He wasn’t really sure what the name Ryota Mitarai meant and why exactly he knew it, but for some reason it did make sense. 

A loud clamor that was coming from nearby caught the boys’ attention quickly, and also got them back on their mission: going to the control room. Finding the intercom. Talking about their observations, and hopefully helping the last two students come to their senses. However, passing through halls (Tanaka was definitely sure they were still heading the right way) to their right they saw something that made them doubt their plan again. Nekomaru and Hiyoko, the last two students, they were together alright. But they were the cause of the noise, as they were fighting. Hiyoko holding a weapon, and Nekomaru barehanded. If this wouldn’t have been a life threatening situation, it would have looked very damn funny because of the height difference, and the fact that Saionji wasn’t even doing that bad of a job protecting herself.    
  
They decided to carry on and ignore this scene for now, although that wasn’t really necessary: as soon as they’d moved on to another hall, the same sound from a Monokuma screen told them one of the students was now dead. They stopped in their tracks, again a dread filling them. ‘Guys, there’s no point’, Kazuichi mumbled, saying what they all had to realise by now; only one student besides them was left. ‘There’s only Saionji or Nidai left, there’s no reason for us to continue’. Hinata was persistent, still. ‘Come on guys, we’re almost there’, he tried to hype them up a bit, smiling in a confident manner. ‘I think it might still be a good idea to finish our journey, nonetheless’. Kazuichi could only guess why Hajime was so set on this; he probably just wanted to have an objective to be able to move forward. 

‘If I assume correctly, the Lucky One is attempting to request you mortals let him discourse. Commune, fiend!’, Gundham basically raved, which was only to slight shock of the others. ‘I’m just going to assume that means I can speak now’, Nagito said softly, running a hand through his wild hair. ‘I forgot to say that I think I saw Hiyoko lay traps around here on our way to the crime scene. I actually saw her lay stuff around in other places as well, but it didn’t come to mind before’. ‘And you’re telling us this only now?!’, Kazuichi groaned, grabbing onto his beanie. The whole situation had him on edge, and he could honestly not care less that his outburst would probably result into Komaeda trash talking himself. 

Maybe it had been his luck that Komaeda finally told them, maybe it was just cruel fate, but the next step forward that Gundham made, he accidentally set off one of those traps they had literally just been talking about. And it weren’t just tiny, cute little traps of a mischievous little girl. No. This one actually caused an explosion. If it weren’t for Kazuichi quickly grabbing onto Tanaka’s arm and pulling him backwards as he saw what was happening, the boy would have probably exploded right with the trap Hiyoko had set. It was big enough of an explosion to create a hole in the floor, and make the walls look like they were coming down. Part of it was, really, the damaged brick crumbling down, and it was a strange sight, but at least Gundham wasn’t buried under there. ‘Now we’re even’, Kazuichi said slightly out of breath, both of the males trying to calm down from the shock of what had just happened. 

The explosion had separated Nagito and Hajime from them. A quick answer of  _ yes _ to Hinata’s question if the guys were okay was really all they had to give to help the others steady themselves as well. Once most of the dust that came afterwards was gone, they could actually see each other again, but it would be dangerous to try and join them over the damage in the floor. ‘You guys just stay over there, we’ll find a way around through another hall. I’m sure with Nagito’s luck we will be fine’, Hajime called to them, to which Soda nodded. They would stay in a room close by and just keep their doors closed in case Nekomaru was the one that survived, because Nagito had already shown evidence before that Nidai couldn’t open doors, so they would be safer than nothing. 

The boys entered the relatively small place that was a room closest to where they had been standing, so Hajime and Nagito wouldn’t have too much trouble finding them. As soon as Kazuichi closed the door behind him, he leant against it.  _ I need a break _ his mind just yelled at him, but he kept from complaining out loud. He checked the bracelet, or as Monokuma called it, bangle, to see they had only half an hour left before the fourth time limit would be reached. That had been quite the trip. Almost everyone was dead once again, and yet he had managed to stay alive for longer than he again had expected. If Komaeda’s theory was correct, and the killer wasn’t actually one of his classmates, the chances that he’d make it a lot further were slim. That wasn’t really the thing that concerned the pink haired individual; although it was unfortunate, for some reason he’d made peace with the idea. Not with dying- that wasn’t something he’d ever be okay with, he thought. But the fact that his chances were slim, he could live with that. Because slim didn’t mean zero, and as long as he stayed focussed on that possibility that hey, since he’s been a survivor before maybe he can be a survivor once again, the anxiety about what was to come eating on his brain was a lot more tolerable. 

Soda almost forgot for a moment that he wasn’t alone in the room; Tanaka had been awfully quiet ever since Kazuichi basically saved him from the trap Hiyoko had prepared for anyone that would come near the control room. Him suddenly speaking up, and saying something short instead of the drawn out and dramatic sentences the boy usually produced, peaked the mechanic’s interest: ‘You were right’. 

Kazuichi blinked, taking the other in. Gundham looked almost thankful to him, the keyword being  _ almost _ ; if the guy didn’t always try that hard to look big and evil and whatever other delusions he had about himself, Soda might have actually understood what he was trying to express. ‘Uh, I was right, when?’, Kaz asked, ‘you gotta be a bit more specific there, pal’. Tanaka seemed uncomfortable by the question, but he didn’t back down. He gripped the scarf that could always be seen around his neck, almost as if it was a sort of mental support. Soda had secretly always wanted to hear the story behind that thing, since it didn’t look like some scarf you could just buy anywhere, but afraid of occult stories that he wouldn’t be able to understand anyway, he never asked. ‘When you remarked sadness is able to spawn the seeds of hope in oneself, as I had erroneously reached the verdict sadness will only provoke a Hellish despair. You… were right. Sadness does not only result in the inner Demons despair brings. The inevitable does not have to end in pusillanimity. If sadness brought you hope, fate can bring us determination!’. Even if it seemed like a hard subject for the breeder to talk about, he spoke with the same amount of passion he usually did. A little confused, Kazuichi still chuckled, since he was pretty sure this meant Tanaka agreed with him. ‘That’s the spirit, good on you’. Gundham kept looking at Kazuichi, even if his scarf was covering the lower half of his face, and it looked like he wanted to say more, but was holding back. All Kazuichi could offer him was a reassuring smile, so he did. The breeder stepped forward, in Soda’s direction, and for some reason that alone was kind of intimidating to the mechanic. But he was definitely taken aback once Tanaka pretty suddenly pulled Kazuichi into an embrace. Soda tensed up a little, but this was only because of the shock of the embrace happening; Gundham had never been the affectionate person, at least not the Gundham Kazuichi knew. He himself could usually get a little affectionate, sometimes even clingy to his friends, but the breeder purposely didn’t get in contact with his friends like that, usually claiming that his skin was poisoned and therefore he would only cause death if he were to touch someone. But for his so-called poisonousness, the hug was quite… pleasant, and Kazuichi found himself returning it no questions asked. Well, no questions asked  _ out loud _ , anyway. 

‘I apologize Kazuichi’, very quickly already came Gundham’s apology in which, to Soda’s surprise, he used the boy’s first name while he usually refused to do so with anyone he didn’t see as an ally or whatever Tanaka called his friends, ‘for normally I would not act this selfishly in regards to the poison that curses my touch-’. Kazuichi’s laugh interrupted the other, as he (stubbornly) only held the already retreating boy a bit tighter. ‘Shut up, you big nerd, I don’t care’, Soda teased softly, burying his face into Gundham’s shoulder as a pleasantly warm feeling took over his body. Perhaps it was gratefulness; he hadn’t known he needed this as much as he did at the moment. If anyone had told him back in the Neo World Program that in the span of a couple of days he would be hugging Gundham Tanaka while it had absolutely nothing to do with Kaz trying to win over Miss Sonia in some way, he would not have been able to believe it; and yet here he was, almost refusing to let go. In their moment neither of them heard the Monokuma screen play yet another sound to give away that yet another of the students had passed away. 

Losing their classmates had been hard on them, even if they sadly enough had gotten somewhat used to it. Kazuichi usually was one to complain a lot, but during this second killing game he had managed to keep complaints and pain mostly to himself, and it had been weighing him down quite a lot. He could only imagine how torn Gundham must have been, since he felt the need to keep that strange image of his up so never really vented at all. Kazuichi wasn’t sure what made the breeder decide to do so now, but he didn’t want to ask; he felt like he was asking enough from the other with just this. For once, Kazuichi wouldn’t act like the selfish asshole the others sometimes made him out to be. The time limit eventually forced them to let go, as they fell asleep. 

When Kazuichi opened his eyes after the drugged sleep, he first noticed that the Monokuma screen wasn’t displaying another victim being found. He actually heard no sign at all of there being another victim, and the realisation hit him; this meant that the killing game was over, as Monokuma had said. ‘We did it!’, Kazuichi gasped, even if it felt still a little surreal that he of all people had survived another killing game. ‘I- wow, Gundham, I think we survived!’, he cheered again, jumping up and carefully expecting the screen just to be sure the stuffed animal wasn’t playing a prank on them to give them false hope, but it didn’t seem like it. The grin quickly appeared on Soda’s face. ‘I think he’s for real- we actually survived!’. 

Kazuichi fell silent for a moment. There was no response. ‘...Gundham?’.

Turning around, he saw the other still laying on the floor. At first there was just confusion; there was no blood after all. But then a sudden fear overcame Soda. ‘G-Gundham?’, he asked again, approaching the breeder. Thoughts filled his head, thoughts that he tried to push away as quick as possible. He felt almost scared to see Tanaka’s face clearer; it could possibly tell him something that he really didn’t want to know. But he couldn’t be- there was no victim. ‘Tanaka, fuck, say something!’, Kazuichi let out, his voice quivering a bit. This was unfair. It couldn’t be. 

The door of the room swung open behind Soda, but he paid almost no attention to it, as his eyes were trained on the body in front of him. He pushed himself forward, to sit on his knees next to the laying boy, and finally, he forced himself to look at Tanaka’s face. ‘Thank God you guys are okay’, he heard Hajime say behind him as the pair of Hajime and Nagito entered the room; they probably resumed their journey to find the students they’d got separated from before as soon as they woke up. Kazuichi said nothing, however, only able to let out a pained sob. Gundham Tanaka had been poisoned. 

‘His forbidden action’, Nagito immediately said, and the fact that no one had allowed him to speak didn’t cross Kazuichi’s mind for the moment. He took a hold of Tanaka’s wrist and pressed the bangle to read what his forbidden action was, Hinata behind him edging closer to look as well. And if his heart didn’t hurt before, it felt like it had been ripped out right at the moment that he read what the bracelet said. 

_ ‘Passing the Fourth Time Limit with Kazuichi Soda Alive’. _

‘Jesus-’, Hinata choked out what they were both thinking. Kazuichi could only look at the writing wide eyed, as it after a slow pause returned back to a time limit. His life had meant that Tanaka had to die. And the stupid fucking breeder hadn’t done anything about it. 

The moment that from the corner of his eye, he saw Nagito fall to the ground, everything went black. 

\---

Kazuichi Soda could hear muffled voices coming from somewhere, but he wasn’t sure where. His head was hurting, quite a lot actually. So did his body, but that was a different kind of hurting. He felt overall tired, that was the thing. A voice he distantly recognized was saying his name, and a sudden wave of air filled him. It was enough for him to try, and succeed, to open his eyes. He was met with the face of Makoto Naegi, a Future Foundation member, looking down at him. The cabin he was laying in looked more like the description the foundation had given them in the Neo World Program already. Almost as in a reflex, Kazuichi shot to sit up, resulting into him grabbing his head as it felt like his brain was drained from his skull. 

‘Easy, easy, you did a lot of work in there’, Makoto quickly said, pushing something into Kazuichi’s hands. A voice from source unknown huffed behind Naegi, but Soda didn’t mind it too much; he realised Makoto had just given him a glass of water, and his throat immediately felt dryer than it ever had been. He drank some, but was quick to look at Makoto again. ‘I don’t understand’, was the first thing he managed to get out. 

‘You’re the last one out’, the voice sounded again, and as he eyed over to find the source, he saw Byakuya Togami; the real one this time. ‘I must say, that was some fine work in there’. Even if it was meant as a compliment, Kazuichi still felt very intimidated by the whole posture or stance of the man. He almost felt the need to apologize, just because of the stern look that this Togami was throwing him, but he luckily refrained; it would’ve probably looked very stupid if he did. ‘I… still don’t understand’, Soda repeated himself. Makoto took the now empty glass back from the ultimate, and took a moment to explain what he himself knew about it. 

‘Well, it seems you guys managed to  _ create _ a future, like you’d wanted to back in the simulation. You found a way to recover your friends’ files, one by one, so with our help they could be restored for the designated person. But for that you all had forced yourself to stay in the simulation longer than was anticipated, and now we couldn’t exactly keep watch what was happening; but we had our ideas’, Naegi explained, looking over at Byakuya for some back up. The other male was busy doing something else though, and with a soft sigh Makoto decided to just continue himself. ‘Well, of course the virus of Junko Enoshima was still around. But from what we could tell, forcing yourself in another killing game had somehow separated you guys from her AI in a way, so there were less complications’. Kazuichi was silent for a moment, taking the information in. ‘Wait, wait, hold up- you’re saying I made that all up with my mind? With all due respect Naegi, this is  _ me _ we’re talking about, I don’t think I have the brains to-’, Kazuichi coughed after that, and for some reason it got a chuckle out of Togami, who apparently had still been listening. ‘At least you are self aware. But don’t give yourself that much credit- all the survivors had to have worked together’, the foundation member stated. 

Makoto gave Byakuya a look for being so harsh, which the other ignored completely. ‘Oh come on. He and Hinata were in there the whole run; Akane, Sonia and Fuyuhiko couldn’t handle it for that long. At least give him some credit’, Naegi sticked up for Soda, but got not much more than a huff as a response. Kazuichi couldn’t care less about their little petty fight, as his eyes widened when he thought of something. ‘Does this mean the others are alive? Where are they?’. 

After the sharp toothed male was told the directions to his friends, a little stupid headache couldn’t stop him from getting up and speeding towards the destination. And there they were, all his classmates. Alive and well. Chatting with each other. In no time had Soda spotted Tanaka, and even if he was slightly embarrassed by the relief that washed over him when he saw the person he’d once called a rival, he still rushed to his side, letting out an agitated cry of ‘you big fuckin’ dumbass!’. Tanaka spotted the pink haired mechanic now as well, and the look of guilt that washed over him felt like a stab in the chest to Kazuichi. ‘I-’, Gundham started a little startled, wanting to apologize, but he was cut off by Soda wrapping his arms tightly around the taller guy. He had mistaken the cry for being an angry one; Soda wasn’t angry with him. ‘Never pull that shit on me again, you- you asshole’, Kazuichi grumbled into his shoulder, and Gundham could swear he felt the fabric of his outfit getting a little soaked by what could only be the mechanic’s tears, but if he were to ask Kazuichi he would most definitely deny it to his best abilities. Tanaka didn’t miss the shocked faces of his classmates at what was happening. Definitely not Sonia’s. They could only still remember the childish fights the two males that were now hugging like friends used to get in (mostly about Soda’s obsession with Miss Sonia) back in the Neo World Program, and now they had most of their memory back, also when they were classmates. A bit awkwardly with the eyes of his classmates now on him, but sincerely, Gundham patted his back a bit to show sympathy. ‘My apologies’, he told the upset Ultimate softly. ‘However, I do not regret facing the inevitable with determination, like an Overlord of Ice as myself should’. And Tanaka chose to ignore it when Kazuichi huffed a ‘ _ nerd _ ’ into his shoulder. 

‘However cute this little homo moment may be, we might want to catch the boat and get the Hell off this disgusting island’, Hiyoko ruined the sweet reunion, folding her arms together. Kazuichi was sure that was the first time he ever saw Hajime crack up about something Hiyoko said. The mechanic takes a moment to flick both of them the finger, although he didn’t miss the way Gundham’s face heat up and how he hid behind his scarf when Saionji said so, making Kazuichi grin. ‘You fool, that was not the case!’, Tanaka roared at the traditional dancer, who stuck out her tongue to the breeder. 

And just as a small revenge, Kazuichi decided to mess with Tanaka as well. ‘Aww, come on dude’, he smirked, ‘that was full homo’. 

‘Silence, fiend!’, Gundham almost  _ whined _ as he fastened his pace to walk to the boat, and Kazuichi followed him laughing. Together, the students defeated their despair, and now together, they were leaving the island to make things right with a new home. 

Hajime Hinata was the last one to follow the students. Everyone was excited for their new start, and everyone was somehow hopeful even if they could remember their past mistakes clearly now.  _ Everyone has regrets _ , he supposed, as he looked at the hair clip that had once belonged to Chiaki Nanami. A soft sigh left his lips. Even if they got the best ending they could have wished for, a part of him felt the weight of regret like a heavy burden on his shoulder. Perhaps, it was better for him to also stay behind. To carry the burden on his own, like he somewhere felt he deserved.

_ ‘Hajime, you coming?’, called Kazuichi Soda, and he didn’t miss the eyes as friend he now decided to trust again, Nagito, watched him curiously. He couldn’t be sure, but he suspected the luckster could already tell exactly what duelity was going on inside his mind.  _

Or perhaps, it was better for them to put this chapter behind them, and start a new one. A more hopeful one. One they will have created for themselves, just like they wanted to. 


End file.
